(a) Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a flexible toy that provides components that allow the infant to chew on the device and also serves as a distraction device that pacifies the child. The device may include an internal musical component that cooperates with the sides of the toy so that the musical component can be easily activated by the child.
(b) Discussion of Known Art
It is well known that infant children can be amused by small stuffed animals or toys. The fabrication of these animals or toys has typically involved the assembly of various components that end up looking like the animal that is portrayed by the toy. For example, stuffed toy rabbits will include a head with large ears, a body and legs. The construction of such a toy will typically involve the use of several panels that are sown together to form the shape of the animal's body parts. A problem with this type of construction is that it can isolate the major parts of the body of the toy. This makes it difficult to effectively incorporate mechanisms such as electronic musical devices into the body of the toy. These musical devices must be inserted into the larger body portions of the toy, where sufficient room is found to accommodate the musical device. The placement of the musical device in these areas of the stuffed toy makes it difficult for an infant can squeeze the toy with sufficient force to allow the infant to trigger or activate the musical device.
Another problem associated with known stuffed toys is that they rely on the appearance of the toy as an attractant to get the child or infant to play with the toy. Thus, the accepted method for fabricating these toys involves creating a stuffed animal that looks like a real animal or a cartoon type character of such an animal. Infants, however, are not sufficiently familiar with animals or cartoon characters to appreciate the details of these types of toys. Therefore, the effectiveness of these toys as an attractant that distracts the child and thereby pacifying the child is limited in that they have been created from the perspective of a non-infant child or an adult that is familiar with these characters or animals.
Well known pacifier devices typically incorporate a rubber nipple portion that is instinctively chewed by the child. The shapes of these devices are designed to take advantage of this instinctive behavior by infants. Known stuffed animals, however, do not provide components that are designed to play on these instinctive impulses. For example, a stuffed rabbit may have floppy ears, but these ears do not incorporate the three dimensional features of the well-known pacifier.
Examples of stuffed toys and toys that use tethers and musical components can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,982 to Spector, issued Nov. 2, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,340 to Bogar, issued Jan. 2, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,268 to Au, issued Dec. 26, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,109 to Marcus, issued Jul. 12, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,713 to Williams et al., issued Feb. 2, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,344 to Lee, issued Apr. 3, 1979, U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,704 to Hakim, issued Oct. 24, 1972, U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,482 to Marcus, issued Dec. 23, 1975. Examples of toys that include pacifiers are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,113 to Decker et al. However, structure and geometry of these devices do not lend themselves to the use of the devices as pacifiers or teething devices. Furthermore, an infant's mind is constantly absorbing information on shapes and colors. Because the infant is learning to recognize shapes and colors, it would be advantageous to provide a device that can perform the functions of a pacifier and allow containment and activation of a musical component within the device. The activation of the musical component being in response to a tug or squeeze of the toy by the infant.
Still further, there remains a need for a device and method that can be used to help or teach infants in recognizing simple shapes, while also serving as a pacifier.
There remains a need for a device that includes bright colors and that can be serve as a pacifier as well as a tethered toy that can be carried by the child, tethered to the child's garment or body.
Therefore, a review of known devices reveals that there remains a need for a simple device that allows an infant to use the device as a teething device, a pacifier, a tethered toy, and an instructional device that can capture the attention of an infant.